On June 16, 1862, a New Orleans businessman named B. Bronson discovered that his “light mulatto” slave, Calvin, had run away. With Union troops occupying the Big Easy, Bronson probably figured he would never see Calvin again. An enigmatic character, the “B Bronson” recorded in the June 28, 1860 census of “free inhabitants” of the […]

Approximately 18 months after two sons vanished during the Battle of Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah Valley, William H. Rogers of Quitman in Brooks County in Georgia received a letter from Maine. The letter was from a Yankee lieutenant, Lagrange Severance, not someone upon whom Rogers could look favorably. After reading the letter, Rogers may […]

While the old folks at home in Dexter shoveled snow in winter 1862, the greatest problem facing Pvt. Eugene Kincaide Kingman of Co. H, 12th Maine Infantry, was deciding which skeeter to swat. After arriving at Ship Island off the Mississippi coast on Feb. 12, the 12th Maine boys had camped near the island’s north […]

Ship Island: The name’s not familiar like Long Island, Mount Desert Island, or Peaks Island. If you are a Civil War buff, perhaps you’ve heard of the place — — or maybe you haven’t. Pvt. Eugene Kincaide Kingman of Dexter certainly thought Ship Island was a great place to escape a cold Maine winter. He […]

Given the choice between participating in Mardi Gras 1863 and watching a cavalry review, Pvt. Eugene Kincaide Kingman of Dexter opted for the latter. Yet he still wound up applying a shine to his shoes and uniform and going to a masked ball, but certainly not as a blue-clad Cinderella. Hailing from Dexter, Eugene served […]

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Brian Swartz

Welcome to "Maine at War," the blog about the roles played by Maine and her sons and daughters in the Civil War. I am a Civil War buff and a newspaper editor recently retired from the Bangor Daily News.
Maine sent hero upon hero — soldiers, nurses, sailors, chaplains, physicians — south to preserve their country in the 1860s. “Maine at War” introduces these heroes and heroines, who, for the most part, upheld the state's honor during that terrible conflict. We tour the battlefields where they fought, and we learn about the Civil War by focusing on Maine’s involvement with it.
Be prepared: As I discover to this very day, the facts taught in American classrooms don’t always jibe with Civil War reality.
I can be reached at visionsofmaine@tds.net.